May 19, 2009

April 15th came & went without any comment from me. Not because I don't feel strongly about taxes, mind you. Rather, I had other things to do.

So here is a collection of tax thoughts, one month late:

Here's how I define tax fairness: everybody pays something, so that
everybody has a stake in keeping taxes low. Ari Fleisher does a nice
job of making this case.

This
is also why I'm opposed to mandatory payroll withholding. Most of the
hourly shop guys that work for me are under the impression that it is
our company that deducts and holds the SS and Fed and State taxes, even
though we explain it to them every year that not only does the company
not keep that money, we have to add money (the employer half of SS) and
deposit it immediately, even though the employees don't actually have
to pay it until the 15th of April the following year.

I believe
that instead of mandatory withholding the way it is now, a certain
percentage of every check should be deposited into a portable,
federally guaranteed, interest bearing savings account, against which
taxes, insurance premiums, retirement account contributions, and
medical expenses are withdrawn. Then every worker knows exactly how
much they actually got paid, and can see clearly where the money went.
Any money not spent belongs to the worker. No tax returns to file, no
deductions to manage, no loopholes, total visibility.

And the withdrawal for taxes should list the name of the elected
officials responsible. For example, the Federal income tax withdrawal
should read: WITHDRAWAL: OBAMA, PELOSI, REID, FEINSTEIN, BOXER FEDERAL GOVERNMENT PROGRAMS.